Why Going Organic Matters For Your Family

Recent headlines blared that a new study had found that organic foods weren’t any healthier for you than conventional food. Researchers at Stanford University recently released a study that questioned the nutritional benefits of buying organic foods. The study found very little nutritional difference between organic and conventional produce and meat. But let’s a closer look behind the headlines.

Today’s children, from infancy up to age 5, in the US have lost more than 16 million IQ points from exposure to organophosphate pesticides, according to another recent analysis. They’re exposed to these pesticides almost entirely through our food.

Organic foods are grown without the use of toxic synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, artificial hormones, or genetic engineering. They depend on cultivating healthy soil to grow healthy plants to produce healthy animals.

The study in question wasn’t new science, but a compilation and analysis of some of the existing studies comparing organic to conventional food. What did this paper find?

Pesticides

Findings: Conventional produce is more than five times more likely than organic to have any pesticide residues (38% of samples versus 7%).

The study didn’t go a step further and consider that when pesticides are found on conventional produce, the pesticides are often more toxic, present at higher levels, and come as mixtures of different chemicals.

The study also didn’t include the large body of literature about the toxic effects of some of these pesticides.

The authors concluded that this five-fold difference in pesticides couldn’t matter because the total amounts are so small. I strongly disagree. Think about this: Pharmaceutical drugs are powerful, refined chemicals designed to improve health. They can have desired health effects on our brain function, sexual function, and fertility at concentrations in our bodies of only parts per billion. Synthetic pesticides are also powerful, refined chemicals, but designed to destroy or inhibit life. Why couldn’t they have undesirable health effects on our brain function, sexual function, and fertility when present in our bodies at similar concentrations?

Food so healthy you can’t even go near it! Google methyl bromide for more on the extremely dangerous strawberry pesticide that has been banned in some areas due to all the damage it does to field workers and their children.

In a world in which we are increasingly worried about the health of our families, the stability of our jobs, and all of life’s responsibilities, the simple act of trying to eat healthy often becomes a challenge.

And with so many Americans food insecure and on food stamps, talking about organic foods—produced without the use of all kinds of additives and ingredients—can often sound like a luxury that few, if any, can afford.

Healthy Eating Tips

Organic Foods

But as organizations from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the President’s Cancer Panel encourage us to reduce our exposure to everything from pesticides to artificial growth hormones, the fact is that we should all be able to feed our families foods that are free-from additives that are increasingly being shown to cause harm. (Wondering what the most contaminated foods are? Find out with The Dirty Dozen.)

So here are a few tips for those who want to start buying organic food but don’t want to pay the high price:

1. Go orgo-generic: Major grocery store chains like Safeway and Kroger, and big box food retailers like Costco and even Wal-Mart, now carry their own organic foods. And all foods labeled “USDA organic” are created equal, no matter where you find them. No need to upscale your grocery store when Wal-Mart gets it done.

2. Buy frozen: Frozen foods (like strawberries and fish) are cheaper than those that are delivered fresh. So if the prices on fresh produce are eye-popping, cruise on over to the frozen food aisle for a discount.

3. Eat with the season: Retrain your taste buds to think like your grandmother did. She didn’t eat strawberries in the middle of winter. Locally grown foods are usually cheaper than those flown in from another hemisphere, so if you eat with the season, you’ll be eating more affordably.

4. Skip the box, embrace the bulk: Food that comes in boxes costs more because of the packaging costs associated with designing those pretty pictures. When you buy in bulk, you’re not paying for all of the packaging—you’re paying for the food, which is what you wanted in the first place. So slide on over to that bulk food aisle in Safeway and look for noodles, cereals, and rice and beans.

5. Support the US economy and buy local: You can save money by becoming a member of a local farm (just like you became a member at Safeway or Costco!). How do you find a local farm, you ask? Well, thankfully, the USDA now has a list of online sites to help you find the closest farm near you, so click here to log onto the USDA site.

6. Comparison shop: You wouldn’t buy a car without comparison shopping, so before you even head out the door, you can compare the prices of organic foods at different retailers from the safety of your own computer at Eat Well Guide.

7. Coupons, coupons, coupons: Organic bargains are everywhere, so click on About.com’s Frugal Living page where you will find All Organic Links.

8. Grow one thing: If you’re as busy as we are, there’s not a chance in creation that you’re going to be able to feed your family off of your home-grown harvest, but you will find that growing a tomato plant can be incredibly inspiring. And it’s not as intimidating as it seems. So pick one thing to grow—you can do it (we all grew lima beans in cups as kids, right?)

9. Find a friend. It’s way more fun to have someone cheering you on as you begin to make these changes. And remember, just as our little ones learn to walk by taking baby steps, you can do the same thing here. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. Take those baby steps. Because before you know it, you’ll be off and running.

Like this:

Why High Animal Protein Diets Age You Faster

Diets high in animal products can cause a host of health problems ranging from increased risk of heart disease and certain cancers to weight gain and autoimmune disorders. What many people don’t realize, however, is just how aging consumption of animal protein can be. While many people think that animal protein is healthy as long as its lean, the truth is that all types of animal proteins are unhealthy and can lead to critical imbalances in your body that sap you of your energy, drain minerals from your bones and cells, and actually speed up the aging process.

Animal Protein and the Environment

How can environmental issues contribute to aging? Polluted air and waterways contribute to the toxic sludge that builds up in your body over time, depleting your energy and keeping your body from functioning at its optimal best.

Production of animal products has a profound impact on the environment, contributing significantly to water and air pollution. Factory farms generate nearly 2 billion tons of animal waste every year. In fact, about 20 tons of livestock waste is generated for every household in the United States. All of that waste has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, where it often winds up is seeping into groundwater, being dumped in the waterways, and winding up in the foods we eat and the water we drink.

Animal production also contributes to toxic gases in the environment. The butchering, processing, and shipping of animals consumes more than 1/3 of fossil fuels used in the United States. These fossil fuels dump dangerous and toxic chemicals into the air we breathe, further increasing your toxic load.

Animal Protein is Acidic

Your body functions within a very narrow range of pH at about 7.0, which is slightly alkaline. When the foods you eat move your body out of this range of alkalinity, the cells don’t function properly. In these cases, your body then seeks to pull mineral salts from cells and bones in order to restore alkalinity. This can result in free radical formation, which accelerates the aging process. It can also contribute to bone demineralization, which leads to weakened bones and, ultimately, osteoporosis.

Animal protein is one of the most metabolically acidic foods humans eat. It creates conditions of acidity within the body after ingestion, forcing the body to seek to return to an alkaline state through demineralization of the bones and the cells. The result of eating significant amounts of animal protein is accelerated aging.

Antibiotics and Hormones

Factory farmed animals exist in almost incomprehensible conditions. Instead of roaming free and feeding on the natural foods available in pasturelands, factory farmed animals are piled nearly one on top of the other with very little room to move about freely. This results in easily spread infection and fecal contamination. To combat this, factory farmers supply antibiotics in the animals’ feed as a preventive measure.

Because there is such demand in the Western diet for animal protein products, factory farmers also seek ways to enhance the animals’ growth so they reach maturity far more quickly than their normal life cycle would indicate. To do this, they supply hormones in the animals’ feed to enhance growth and increase production.

If your food consumes these things, then so will you when you eat that food. Factory farmed animal products are laden with hormones and antibiotics. In many cases, the animals are also filled with the pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and genetically modified food products the farmers’ use to feed them. This means that you, too, are ingesting pesticides, genetically modified products, and fertilizers every time you eat a factory farmed animal product. This increases the amount of toxic sludge in your body, which keeps you from efficiently digesting the foods you eat, absorbing nutrients, and using your life energy well.

Antibiotics in animal proteins also kill the beneficial flora in your colon. That flora is essential in intestinal health. Why is intestinal health so important? Because your colon serves as one of your body’s chief organs of detoxification. When it doesn’t function properly, then your colon is unable to thoroughly and efficiently eliminate the toxins that age you.

Most of the products you find in grocery stores come from factory farmed animals. Even animal proteins labeled as “organic” or “natural” may be laden with these toxins. If you do eat animal protein, I recommend purchasing them from a trusted local source that uses sustainable ranching practices, allowing the animals to reach maturity naturally while grazing on indigenous, organic plants.

Animal Proteins and Putrefaction

Your body does not digest animal proteins well under the best of circumstances. If you regularly eat animal proteins, then chances are they are not digesting. Instead, the proteins putrefy in your colon and become part of the toxic sludge, blocking efficient digestion ofhealthier foods that contribute the important enzymes and nutrients to keep you youthful and energetic.

Vitamins, Minerals, Fiber, and Enzymes

Aside from having protein and vitamin B12, animal protein has very little to offer nutritionally- being devoid of fiber and low in vitamins and minerals. Furthermore, unless you are eating it raw, animal foods have been heated, which denatures the amino acids which make up protein chains, reducing the actual amount of protein your body is able to use and assimilate. When you fill up on animal proteins, you don’t eat as much of the nutritious foods your body needs for vibrant health, such as raw green veggies. Similarly, animal proteins may keep you from consuming the fiber you need to clean your intestines.

Eating to Prevent Aging

An anti-aging diet, then, is one that is low in animal products (including meat, dairy, and eggs). Instead, it is high in beneficial raw plant foods like green vegetables, other vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. These foods fight the free radicals that age you. They also create alkalinity in the body, protecting cellular function and promoting health.